Manhattan Theatre Club News

Manhattan Theatre Club will present its annual Spring Gala on Monday, May 14 at Cipriani 42nd Street (110 East 42nd Street), hosted by four-time Tony Award nominee Condola Rashad, who is currently starring in Saint Joan.

The American Theatre Wing and The Village Voice announce that Tony Award-nominated and three-time Obie-winning actress Kathleen Chalfant will receive a special Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement at the 63rd Annual Obie Awards.

The 2018 theater season opens at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater with This Is Our Youth, by Academy Award winner Kenneth Lonergan, directed by Katherine M. Carter and starring Michael Goldsmith, John Evans Reese and Ruby Wolf. Designers for This Is Our Youth are Edward Morris (Scenic Design), Caitlin Cisek (Costume Design), Conor Mulligan (Lighting Design), and Beth Lake (Sound Design). Performances are at 8:00 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays, June 1-22. Two preview performances, May 30 and 31, begin at 7:30 p.m.

The Off-Broadway League are presenting awards in 19 categories for the 33rd Annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway and we're bringing you the winners live.

Soho Rep. (Sarah Benson, Artistic Director; Cynthia Flowers, Executive Director), in association with Berkeley Repertory Theatre, presents the world premiere of Jackie Sibblies Drury's Fairview, directed by Soho Rep. Artistic Director Sarah Benson, May 29 - July 1. Following her "inventive," "pulse-pounding" We Are Proud to Present…(The New York Times, Time Out New York, and New York Magazine Critics' Picks), Sibblies Drury returns to Soho Rep. with Fairview, a play that shows us that nothing's funnier than "family drama."

Abingdon Theatre Company (Tony Speciale, Artistic Director; Denise Dickens, Producing Director) presents the final main stage production of its 25th Anniversary season, Fruit Trilogy, a new trilogy of plays by Tony Award winner Eve Ensler (The Vagina Monologues, In the Body of the World) and directed by Mark Rosenblatt

Seattle Repertory Theatre today announced the all-female ensemble of its highly anticipated and innovative adaptation of MAC BETH by Erica Schmidt. Set to run May 18 - June 17, 2018 (opening night May 23), tickets to MAC BETH are on sale now through the Seattle Rep Box Office at 206.443.2222 and online at SeattleRep.org. The Rep's production is also a participant in Seattle Celebrates Shakespeare.

LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! by Terrence McNally won the 1995 Tony Award for Best Play and, although much has changed in the ensuing twenty-four years since it opened at the Manhattan Theatre Club, as a slice of gay life, it withstands the test of time. On each of the three major summer weekends, eight gay male friends gather at one's sprawling lakeside country house in Dutchess County to dish, dine, and dance. President Bill Clinton was in his first term, the AIDS epidemic infiltrated every aspect of the gay community, and the fragility of life weighed on the hearts and minds of these close friends.

Sundance Institute's Theatre Lab kicks off on May 6th, and today announced this year's participating acting company and creative advisors. The Lab, which runs through May 27 at the Fellah Hotel outside Marrakech, Morocco, is supervised by Artistic Director Philip Himberg and Producing Director Christopher Hibma, and is the centerpiece of the Institute's year-round work with the theatre community, alternating locations between Sundance Resort in Utah and a venue in the Middle East/North African region, as part of a multi-year commitment to international work and a means of facilitating cultural exchange between artists writing in English and Arabic.

Goodspeed is assembling a stellar cast for Cyrano an inspired new take on the Edmond Rostand classic Cyrano de Bergerac. Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Peter Dinklage will develop the title role and film actress Haley Bennett will play Roxanne in this bold new musical. Additional casting will be announced at a later date. This exciting musical is adapted by Erica Schmidt in collaboration with members of the Grammy Award-winning indie alternative band The National. Cyrano will run August 3 - September 2, 2018 at The Terris Theatre in Chester, Conn. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Colorado New Play Festival (CNPF) (Artistic Director Andrew Leynse) (formerly the Perry-Mansfield New Works Festival) is proud to announce the full lineup of plays and playwrights for the 2018 season. The 21st Annual Festival, to be held on June 10-16, 2018 in Steamboat Springs, CO, will develop five new works in partnership with the Actors Theatre of Louisville, Alley Theatre, Curious Theatre Company, Primary Stages, and Victory Gardens Theater.

The Geffen Playhouse today announced the full cast for its world premiere production of Amanda Peet's Our Very Own Carlin McCullough. The play will feature Mamie Gummer (The Good Wife, True Detective) as Cyn, Abigail Dylan Harrison (The Affair) as Carlin at 10, Caroline Heffernan as Carlin at 17, Tyee Tilghman as Saleef and Joe Tippett (Rise, Broadway's Waitress) as Jay. Tyne Rafaeli (Geffen's Ironbound, Actually) will direct.

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director) and Barry Grove (Executive Producer) have just announced the American premiere of the Almeida Theatre production of Ink, written by Olivier Award winner James Graham (Labour of Love, Privacy, Finding Neverland) and directed by two-time Olivier Award winner, Tony and BAFTA Award nominee, and Almeida Theatre Artistic Director Rupert Goold (King Charles III, Enron) on Broadway as part of Manhattan Theatre Club's upcoming 2018-2019 season.

'Proof' by David Auburn is opening April 27 at the Granite Theatre. 'Proof' is an intriguing play that asks the question - can madness be inherited? Can genius? Producer/ Artistic Director for the theatre is David Jepson. The show runs April - May 12, 2018

Jennifer Barclay's RIPE FRENZY is produced by Greenway Arts Alliance (Whitney Weston and Pierson Blaetz, Co-Founders and Co-Artistic Directors) at Greenway Court Theatre (544 N. Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles), as part of a National New Play Network (NNPN) Rolling World Premiere with partnering theaters New Repertory Theatre in Boston and Synchronicity Theatre in Atlanta. Winner of the 2016 NNPN Smith Prize for Political Theatre, RIPE FRENZY is directed by Ovation Award-nominee Alana Dietze (Dry Land at the Echo Theater Company and Kirk Douglas Theatre) and projection designs by Obie Award-winner Jared Mezzocchi (Vietgone at Manhattan Theatre Club). Performances will play May 17 through June 17, 2018; with the press opening on Saturday, May 19.

BroadwayWorld has just learned that previously announced host of the Lortel Awards Jason Jones has withdrawn due to scheduling conflicts. Now slated to co-host alongside Laura Benanti is her fellow METEOR SHOWER star Jeremy Shamos.

In the past few weeks, we've watched the nominations roll in. Today the final crop of nominees have been revealed, all leading to next week's ultimate announcement- the 2018 Tony nominations.

Hartford Stage Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak and Managing Director Michael Stotts today announced the cast and creative team for Athol Fugard's A Lesson from Aloes. Ariyon Bakare, Randall Newsome and Andrus Nichols will appear in the revered Fugard drama. The play will perform Thursday, May 17, through Sunday, June 10 - closing out Hartford Stage's 2017-18 season. Tresnjak will direct.

Bekah Brunstetter has been in the news a lot lately as her play THE CAKE (Geffen Playhouse, Manhattan Theatre Club) sweeps the nation and for her work on NBC's hit THIS IS US. Previously acclaimed plays like BE A GOOD LITTLE WIDOW, THE OREGON TRAIL and YOU MAY GO NOW have created a growing fan base for the playwright.

MTC presents a powerful new production of Saint Joan, which opens on Broadway tonight at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.